I move:
That Seanad Éireann confirms the following Order:
Local Elections (Specification of Local Election Year) Order, 1990,
a copy of which Order was laid before Seanad Éireann on the 30th day of April, 1990.
Local Elections (Specification of Local Election Year) Order, 1990: Motion.
This Order, which has been laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas was made under section 2 of the Local Elections Act, 1973. It is designed to postpone for one year the local elections which would otherwise be held in June 1990. Section 2 of the 1973 Act empowers the Minister by order to specify the year in which elections should be held, once he is satisfied that they should be postponed. The order cannot come into effect without confirmation by resolution of each House. The order has already been confirmed by the Dáil and the motion which has just been moved requests the Seanad to confirm the order as required by law.
The reason for this postponement is a very straightforward one. It is to enable a full and urgent review of the local government system to be carried out. In order that a proper review be finalised and changes put in place it was essential to take this step of postponing the elections due next June.
It is the firm intention of the Government to see to it that the necessary changes will be in place in time for the holding of local elections in June 1991.
There would have been no point in going ahead with local elections this year under the existing system. If we were not serious about local government reform and if we were only paying lip service to the whole matter we could have let matters stand. We could have gone ahead with the election of an entire range of councils for a further five years knowing that major structural changes were in the pipeline. However, we were against such a charade.
The Government are serious about reform and have set down clearly how they intend to go about it in a business like way. Members of the House will be aware of the recent statement which set out the details of this programme. The review of the local government system is being carried out at the highest level by a Cabinet subcommittee. That statement also announced that a special committee of experts would be set up to advise the Cabinet subcommittee. The members of the House will be aware that this group of experts has now been appointed and I am confident that they will have a very valuable input to make.
Today's debate also gives the Members of the Seanad a chance to make an input on the important matter of local government reform. I have no doubt but that the Seanad will use this opportunity and I look forward to positive and constructive input from Members on all sides. The Government did not take the decision to postpone the local elections lightly. They made the decision for one reason only — that is to enable the complex and technical problems of local government reform to be tackled in a determined way. We want to put in place a system that will work well and serve the needs of the people in the years to come.
We are used to dealing with major issues in both the Dáil and Seanad. We deal with matters that have a significant bearing on the economy and on society as a whole. We deal with matters of international importance. I hope though that we would not tend to regard local matters as being less important. In fact, I would put it to you that the areas for which local authorities are responsible are among those that have the greatest impact on the day-to-day lives of all the people.
The local authorities have the job of providing the services on which people depend most, services such as housing, water, sanitation and fire protection. The local authorities are responsible for matters which have a great bearing on the quality of life of the people; the environment, local amenities, planning and development. Local authorities play a major role in relation to economic development through the provision of roads, water supplies and all the other essential items of infrastructure. The local authorities themselves are indeed an important sector of the economy by virtue of the significant volume of public expenditure for which they are responsible.
I would put it to you that local authorities have done a good job and much gratitude is due to the dedicated service and hard work of local authority members and officials down through the years but there have been great changes in recent years and these have had a big impact on the role of the local authorities. There have been major social changes. The economic scene has been transformed. There has been a huge growth in legislation. New and more complex needs and demands have arisen. The problems which local authorities have to deal with have increased both in number and in complexity. The one thing that has not changed much is the local government system itself. It is an old system: the structures date back in the main to the last century. It is not a system that was designed to meet the problems and challenges of the modern era.
There is a need for change. I doubt if any Member of the House would disagree strongly with me on that point. Nor would they disagree when I say that change is overdue because although local government reform and reorganisation has been talked about for many years very little action has resulted.
When I say that changes are needed I mean changes that will work and that will produce a better and more efficient system of local government. A system that will last and that will be responsive to the needs of the people it is designed to serve must be the aim. In order to achieve that objective, it is necessary to go about the job in the right way. I am confident that the approach which the Government have taken is the correct one and that it will yield results.
I do not intend to go into detail about issues which will need to be tackled. Even if there was enough time to do that it would not be proper for me to prejudge or pre-empt the work of the committee. I would like, however, to refer in a very general way to some of the main areas that will clearly need to be looked at.
There is no doubt that it will be necessary to look at the local authority structures themselves. As I have said, they are antiquated. We must ensure that the structures and the system are suitable to the needs of today. The system must be flexible and able to respond to the needs of individuals, communities and businesses.
The powers and functions of local authorities must be revoked. Local authorities must have adequate power to take action where it is needed for the good of their areas. They must not be tied down unduly by unnecessary controls and outdated procedures. There is also a need to review central controls on local authorities.
Much of the legislative framework within which local authorities operate dates back over a century. It must be reviewed, updated and consolidated. The question of reserve and executive functions needs to be considered as does the operation of the section 4 procedure.
The committee will also need to consider the possible financial implications of their proposals and they are being asked to make recommendations on the criteria on which the contribution from central funds to local authorities should be made on a statutory basis. No doubt the committee will also have regard to the important practical reforms which have been introduced in the financial area in recent years such as the replacement of the outdated loans and subsidy system and the continued elimination of statutory demands and levies.
It is very clear that the task facing the committee is a major one. The range of issues involved is wide and complex. There are no simple or readymade solutions. Much careful consideration will be needed. However the course which the Government have taken will ensure that the matter will be tackled with the utmost urgency and energy and I, therefore, commend this motion to the House.
This order, which has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, was made for the purpose of deferring the local elections for a year. I know the Government indicate that it is for the purpose of examining the structures of local authorities but we all know it is an act of political cowardice and, indeed, is being introduced for the one purpose of deferring the local elections and because of the fear of many Fianna Fáil county councillors throughout the country of those local elections.
(Interruptions.)
The Senators and I know that is the situation. The promise of local government reform is, indeed a myth. One reflects on the policy of that party over the last number of elections. They continually spoke about local government reform, in particular at the 1985 local elections where, I must confess, they were very successful. I have no doubt that the reforms they spoke about then played a major part in that campaign. Three and a half years later, what have we got: certain reforms introduced but all of them reducing the powers of local authorities. I put on the record of this House seven clear cases of this.
I want to join with the Minister in paying a tribute to the members of local authorities who have operated with dedication and commitment for a very long number of years and have given a lot of service free of charge.
(Interruptions.)
If I could have the protection of the Chair, it would help. Let me point out one of the first things the Government did when coming into office in 1987 — it was to abolish the regional development organisations and this at a time when all of Europe was talking about regional development. The midland regional organisation which was doing such excellent work and which involved all of those midland counties with Roscommon, was abolished. That is a fact of life. I believe it was a tragedy that was done. The Midland Regional Development Organisation, together with all other regional development organisations were doing excellent work. I regret very much they were abolished.
Again, more recently, the Government got involved in a cosmetic exercise where they were supposed to be examining the needs and requirements of regions vis-á-vis Structural Funds. We all know again that the county councils were ignored; one member from each council was allowed on the particular body but it was an advisory body. Decisions were taken by the Executive. Again, I believe that was a disaster. It is deplorable of this Government to try to tell us that they are interested in local government reform and returning powers to local authorities when the opposite is the case.
May I hasten to add, the ACOT committees or the county committees of agriculture were abolished by this Government — a fact of life — and we now have a situation where local authorities have absolutely no input into agricultural matters thoughout the country. Whether we like it or not, every county except Dublin and Cork depends to a very large degree on agriculture and in many counties agriculture is the motor of the economy. Yet, those committees were abolished.
We can consider the local health committees. How many Members here have sat on a local health committee in the last two years? They have all been abolished. That was a disgraceful situation, which arose from a penny-pinching exercise. It was done solely to stem criticism from those local authorities of Government health policy over the past three years.
Let us examine other areas, for example, where local authorities' powers were curtailed. The Government had an ideal opportunity last year when, to satisfy the Progressive Democrats, they decided to give local authorities a role as to how lottery funds should be allocated. There was a cosmetic exercise of schemes coming from Dublin to the local authority and being examined there. Of course, every local authority gave approval because it had no power to categorise the schemes in order of priority. If the local authority were to have any meaningful role it should have got that power. The local authority examined the files, sent them back to central Government who some day will take a decision on where the funding goes. I cannot understand why the funding has not been allocated. There are five months of the year gone. There are projects in the Department awaiting sanction. I am told there is money available but worthwhile projects from many rural communities have not been approved.
This is a scandal and shows a clear lack of commitment to give powers to local authorities. I cannot see why an allocation could not be made available to each county council who could then examine the proposals before them and allocate the funds accordingly. That would be real progress. It was an opportunity the Government had but which they failed to grasp.
There was another glaring example some days ago where the Minister for the Environment totally disregarded the wishes of Dublin County Council and imposed a toll on a road that was built by taxpayers' money and EC funding. That was a scandal. It was the clear wish of Dublin County Council that that should not happen. Yet the Minister in a dictatorial manner, imposed a toll. This is another glaring example of the clear failure of this Government to be committed to local authority restructuring. I do not believe they have any commitment other than for the sole purpose of deferring the local elections to appease the Fianna Fáil councillors. That, whether we like it or not, is the reason we have this Bill before us today. It is mere camouflage to say it is for the purpose of local government reform. Every Member on that side of the House knows that what I am saying is true.
Debate adjourned.